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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27807856">Gearing Up For Winter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanhighblood/pseuds/vulcanhighblood'>vulcanhighblood</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sharingan-Stealer Iruka [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>All the warm and fuzzies, Discord: Umino Hours, Fuuinjutsu Master Umino Iruka, Gen, Genin Teams, Kid Uchiha Itachi, Kid Umino Iruka, Team Feels, Team Two Umino Iruka, Uchiha Itachi Being a Good Friend, Umino Hours Winter Bingo, Warm and Fuzzy Clothes, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:28:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27807856</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanhighblood/pseuds/vulcanhighblood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Iruka can't afford to waste money on expensive winter gear for a mission. Itachi takes matters into his own hands.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Uchiha Itachi &amp; Umino Iruka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sharingan-Stealer Iruka [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1899430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>207</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gearing Up For Winter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This idea just came to me and I couldn't NOT write it. It takes place sometime after Team 2's first C-Rank mission, but between all the other drama planned out in this established universe. That C-Rank mission fic is in progress, so hopefully it'll be out soon!</p><p>Written for the Umino Hours Discord Server's Winter Bingo, the prompt was "Winter Gear".</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Aren’t you cold?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka glanced up from his chakra paper, carefully setting his brush aside before glancing up at his Genin teammate Itachi, who was giving him one of his signature </span>
  <em>
    <span>looks.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The kid was nearly half Iruka’s size, and still managed to give off an aura more intimidating than people twice as big as Iruka. It was a pretty impressive skill, though from what Iruka had seen of the Uchihas, it seemed like a family trait. They were all pretty scary, especially when they got mad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pushing the thought aside, Iruka shrugged before answering his tiny teammate. “I mean, I guess it’s a little chilly,” Iruka admitted, tugging at his usual oversized shirt and scowling down at it thoughtfully. He glanced back up then, frowning at Itachi. “Are you cold?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itachi extended his arms and one of his legs in what appeared to be a sort of scarecrow-approximation, showing off the dark material covering what was usually exposed skin - his arms and legs, and he even had a neck covering that reached up to his chin. “My mom bought me thermal wear for our next mission. She said it sometimes gets below freezing in that area, and that exposure to such low temperatures can be dangerous.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka was never going to get used to hearing a tiny pipsqueak of a kid using words like ‘exposure’. “She would know better than me,” Iruka said, nodding. “Yuuki-sensei did say something about dressing warm, didn’t he?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The look on Itachi’s face had shifted from concern to exasperation. “Yes, Iruka, if you’ll recall, he specifically said that we needed to dress as warmly as possible while maintaining a full range of motion.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shrugging, Iruka picked his paintbrush back up, adding another line of calligraphy to his barrier tag. “This is as warm as I usually dress,” he said, “so I guess it’ll have to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Scowling, Itachi glared pointedly at Iruka until it began to feel uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sighing, Iruka set the paintbrush back down. “What?” he demanded. “You’re looking at me like you wanna punch me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s because I </span>
  <em>
    <span>do,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Itachi said primly. “In fact, I am exercising significant restraint in </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> punching you, because we </span>
  <em>
    <span>both</span>
  </em>
  <span> know that you’re not dressed for our mission, and we leave in approximately twenty minutes!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well then I guess you can just go without me,” Iruka growled, picking the paintbrush up and writing the final line of text, feeling the chakra humming through him with every stroke. He finished writing and set the brush aside with a sigh, staring down at the tag, willing it to dry quickly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Iruka,” Itachi said softly, crouching beside him, “Do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> winter gear?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka continued staring furiously at the tag, willing it to </span>
  <em>
    <span>dry faster.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He refused to blink, glaring down at the tag with watering eyes. They were watering because he wasn’t blinking, of course. No other reason. “No,” he said, “but it’s fine, It’s been a few years since I last used a winter coat, so…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itachi was eyeing Iruka thoughtfully. “How much money do you have?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka scowled at Itachi. “What business is it of yours?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sighing, Itachi dug into a pouch, pulling out a small purse. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Is that dry yet?” he gestured to the tag.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Frowning, Iruka poked the edge of the tag, looking for a wet shine on the script. It appeared matte all over, so it was probably dry. “I think so,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pack it up, then,” Itachi commanded. “We only have twenty minutes to buy you some reasonable winter gear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka sputtered. “What? No! It’s fine, I’ll just -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Iruka,” Itachi said sharply, “Are you going to tell </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span> what to do with </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> hard-earned mission money?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka blinked. “Uh. I guess not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good. I feel like buying some winter gear in a size…” he stared pointedly at Iruka.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka blinked. “What size do you think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itachi stared </span>
  <em>
    <span>harder.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Iruka wasn’t sure how to describe it, except that his usual smoldering gaze felt a bit more like an actual flame. “What </span>
  <em>
    <span>size</span>
  </em>
  <span> do you wear, Iruka?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh!” Iruka felt a bit embarrassed that he hadn’t picked up on that. “Um. I dunno, medium?” Itachi sighed, standing up and gesturing for Iruka to rise as well. He did, but only after he finished packing away his seal-making calligraphy set. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess you’ll just have to try it on,” Itachi said. “Now come on, you’ve wasted enough time, we only have fifteen minutes to find you some winter gear.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka still wasn’t quite sure how Itachi had managed to convince him that he would be the one paying, but he couldn’t really afford his own gear, so… he told himself he’d figure out a way to pay his teammate back later. He really </span>
  <em>
    <span>hadn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> been looking forward to running that mission in his usual cotton cutoffs and mesh armor. “Are you going to make me wear all black, like you?” he asked teasingly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tempt me,” Itachi shot back with a sharp look. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. “All right, all right, I won’t.”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Fifteen minutes later, Iruka and Itachi arrived at the gate, spotting their Jonin-sensei and their other teammate, Inari Shinko. Shinko and Yuuki-sensei also wore warm thermals under their usual outfits - at least, that’s what Iruka assumed, though admittedly it was hard to tell under Yuuki-sensei’s standard uniform, except that the few areas that would have normally been exposed were now covered with dark blue cloth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shinko burst out laughing when she spotted him and Itachi, “Aww, you two are so cute!” she exclaimed, “You’re like twins!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka and Itachi exchanged glances. “In what way?” Iruka demanded, “We’re just wearing the same color thermals, that’s all!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itachi looked equally baffled. “We look nothing alike,” he added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yuuki-sensei patted Shinko on the shoulder before glancing at the two of them. He appeared to be stifling a grin of his own. “You two look… cute,” he finally said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> the desired reaction. “Itachi!” Iruka griped, “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>told</span>
  </em>
  <span> you the black was a bad idea!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Itachi sniffed, pointing his nose in the air and looking away from Iruka. “My mom chose this color. It’s a good color.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Iruka sighed, plucking at his own black thermal wear and sighing. He couldn’t really bring himself to insult someone’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>mom.</span>
  </em>
  <span>  “Fine, I guess it’s nice,” he grudgingly admitted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And </span>
  <em>
    <span>adorable!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Shinko added, throwing her arms around the two of them and giggling. “This is going to be so much fun!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say so,” Iruka muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the same moment, Itachi grumbled something along the lines of “I’d prefer it to be a useful training exercise - I can have fun in my spare time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All right kiddos,” Yuuki-sensei said, cutting the displays of affection short, “Glad to see you’re all geared up. If there’s nothing else, I think it’s time we headed out!”</span>
</p><p><span>“Yes sir!” the three of them cried in unison, following their Jonin-sensei out of the village and into the forest. </span><span>As Team Two made their way North, Iruka noted that this was the first winter since his parents had died that he truly felt warm, both inside and out. </span><br/>
<br/>
...he still wasn’t convinced black was his color, though.</p>
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